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Niners president and CEO Jed York said this afternoon he plans to recommend that the NFL postpone his team’s annual preseason game against the Raiders in the wake of the fan violence that erupted during the teams’ 11th consecutive preseason meeting Saturday night at Candlestick Park.

“It’s our belief that we should recommend to the NFL that this game is at least postponed for some period of time,” York said. “And we’re going to continue to work with the NFL, and we’re going to work with the Raiders, to make sure that we have the right decision. And we make sure that everybody at a 49ers’ game going forward has the experience that they deserve.”

In a press conference at Candlestick that also included San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr, mayor Ed Lee and vice president of stadium operations and security Jim Mercurio, York said he believed the Bay Area rivalry, coupled with the different makeup of a preseason crowd, resulted in “degenerate behavior.”

Some season-ticket holders give away their tickets, or sell them at deep discounts, during the NFL’s exhibition season.

“In a preseason game … you see a wider group of people that aren’t necessarily fans coming to games,” York said. “And I think the close proximity with this rivalry, when you look at the incidents, it makes sense to recommend not playing the game.”

York also cited unruly fan behavior during the preseason as a reason for the NFL to play an 18-game regular-season schedule with just two exhibition games.

“This one of the reasons why the NFL is looking at an 18 and 2 season as opposed to 16 and 4 because you just see a disinterest in the preseason,” York said. “And the more disinterest you have, the more casual fans or attendees that aren’t even fans in general, they’re just looking for an entertainment and a place to go and start trouble. That happens when you can buy a ticket cheap on the Internet because your regular-season ticket holder isn’t going to be there.”

In an informal group interview following the press conference, York was asked if fan violence and fan safety were cited as reasons among owners for a move to 18 regular-season games during the NFL’s lockout.

“It was one of the factors,” York said, “but it was not the driving factor.”

York was asked if he was worried that fans would stay away from Candlestick due to concerns about the “game experience.”

“I think that’s why we’re building a football stadium that makes sure that it is attractive for people,” said York, alluding to the organization’s plans to build a stadium in Santa Clara. “And we need to do the best that we can while we’re at Candlestick to have people have a safe, fun, exciting environment.”

In response to Saturday’s violence, tailgating will no longer be allowed during or after games at Candlestick. Suhr also said there will be a more visible police presence.